Perfumed Hearts
by BunBunBabe
Summary: Two shadows of death are back in Forks, and their eyes are set on Bella. With the countdown starting will Edward get to her in time or is he going to get sidetracted by everyone's favorite werewolf. r&r please :: Takes place in New Moon Book::
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Lupine and the Lamb**

It was Saturday morning, as I pushed myself out of bed and shuffled across the room to the window I remembered my promise to Jacob that I would go to La Push and we would spend the day together. When I thought of my promise my mind started to drift towards another image in my mind. Before I knew what was happening I was thinking about _him_, with his body like a statue and the liquid gold eyes that made me quiver. Shaking my head from side to side I pushed his face out of my head and I made a beeline for the shower. When I got into the bathroom I turned the shower on and climbed in, the hot water rolled down my body.

As I lathered up my hair I sighed softly and let mind begin to wander as I rinsed the strawberry shampoo out of my hair, on this over cast Saturday my mind decided to torture me by dredging up memories that I had worked so hard to keep locked away in the very back of my mind. When I finally snapped out of my daze the water spraying in my face was ice cold, closing my eyes I felt two trails of warm tears falling. I knew I wasn't sad I was angry that I wasn't enough for Ed..._Him…_reaching over and grasping the handle of the shower I turned the frigid water off and stepped out into the small bathroom.

Wrapping a towel around my body I scurried across the small hallway into my bedroom. Going to the close I yanked it open and saw the plastic bag in corner barely hidden by my clothes. At that moment the memories flashed through my head, I felt lightheaded. As soon as my knees made contact with the wood floor I realized that I had stopped breathing. Taking a deep breath the pain in my chest started to spread.

My arms and legs went numb; I wanted to scream out all my pain. When I opened my mouth nothing but a small squeak erupted from deep inside me. By the time I had feeling in my legs I remembered that I was going to be late to hang out with Jacob. Pulling myself up I rushed around and threw on the first set of clean clothes and made my way outside to my old truck. When I climbed in the cab and got the engine started the heavens above me started to release the rain it held.

Driving under fifty miles per hour I chugged down to La Push and made my way to the Black home. When I arrived I could see Billy behind one of the curtains. Giving me a quick once over he moved away from the window, soon after a large pair of russet color arms wrapped around me from behind.

"Bells it's so good to see you again" Jacob laughed as he let me go and led me to the garage behind the house. Inside the garage the unfinished Volkswagen Rabbit sat on cement blocks still. I vaguely remember Jacob saying something about them being done. What caught my eye the most was the finished bikes. I smiled at Jacob. He was smiling and patted the seat of the bike that was closest to me; the red paint job looked professional. The one beside it had a perfect black paint job "I just finished them before you got here, But I need to get oil for the engines before we can test them out." he laughed. Stretching his arms over his head he looked over at me.

"You're looking a bit better Bella, You know I'm always here to talk if you want" he said reaching over and ruffling my hair a bit so it was more of a mess than before.

Both of us began to laugh and I looked the bikes over and then my eyes moved over and I realized that Jacob was shirtless, his face had a few spot of dirt and his hair was mussed up a bit. I blushed and before I realized it Jacob was hugging me close again. This time I noticed how warm he was compared to a certain person that I would not name, but I couldn't stop myself from remembering his ice cold skin and the way he looked like a god when he was just standing on the edge of the woods that day.

Wrapping my arms around Jacob's waist I buried my face in his chest as I started to shake. As soon as I began to shake I felt a large warm hand on my back rubbing soft circles to calm me down. Soon I started to feel better and I was able to look my friend in his eyes.

"Did I say something to upset you?" he asked keeping me close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. I shook my head and looked at him and forced a smile. "No I've just been having a really tough day already. I had another nightmare last night and it was about him." I said not even bothering to mention the love of my life that left me to as he put it _protect me_.

Keeping me close Jacob knew not to day say anything at all. Being so close to my friend reminded me of prom last year when we danced together. But at prom I was less coordinated than ever with the foot brace on my foot after my run in with the vampire James.

Just at the thought of the prom those liquid gold eyes invaded my thoughts again. The garage was silent as we stood there. In my mind I heard what he would have said in response to this scene.

"Take care of yourself;" he said those words last September, I lost count of how many months had passed but the pain was still there. I pulled away from Jacob and ran off out of the garage and toward the beach. I forgot that the beach was so far away. I didn't care I just needed to get away from everything. Tree branches smacked me in the face as I cut through the forest. The forest looked just like the one behind my house.

By the time I was fatigued I was surrounded by woods and lost. I spun in a circle which was a stupid idea now I had no idea which way to go.

That's when I saw something move in the distance, I sighed softly when it turned out to be a deer that was foraging for food. I still had the feeling that something was following me and that I was never going to get away from it. It was the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I used to get in school before I knew a certain family.

"Hey, Bella where did you go" Jacob yelled as he crashed through the underbrush following the path I took, when he turned the corner around a tree I couldn't help but smile at him and run into his warm arms. "It's alright, I'm here…let's get out of here, I never liked being this far in the woods." He remarked looking around as if he could sense something watching us.

---------------------

By the time we reached the Black household Jacob had begun to tell me that even though we were on the reservation didn't mean the woods were any safer, wild animals lived everywhere.

"You could have gotten hurt, how would I have explained that to Charlie, speaking of Charlie he called just as you took off, he wants you home early" he said as he walked me to my truck, When we got to my truck and I climbed into the cab. The open window was level with Jacob as he leaned in and smiled at me " Have a safe trip home and make sure to keep safe " he said tussling my hair and pulled his arm out of the truck window as I started the engine and started off down the tree made tunnel to the highway.

When I got to the high that led to Forks I prayed my truck would make it home and not break down. As I chugged down the highway just under fifty miles per hour again I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched still.

Twilight was setting in, the beautiful sky diverted my attention for long enough so that I barely saw the figure standing in the road. Turning the wheel to avoid them the front wheels of my truck went into a ditch on the side of the road. I immediately got out of the truck to see if they were all right.

"Tsk…tsk Bella, I would have thought you were a better driver than this" the figure said, the voice sounded familiar, I stood there for a minute until the name of the figure spilled from my lips. "Laurent, I thought you up north with Tanya?"The words were spilling out of me.

With a nod of his head he moved closer to me. "Yes it was nice, but there were too many rules, so I came back and you'll never guess who I ran into, Victoria, turns out she's pretty upset that your little Edward killed her mate and she's got it out for you. In fact I'm here as a favor, to look for you. Who would have thought I would have found you so quickly after returning." He said with a cold smirk that made my stomach sink.

I began to back away toward the cab of my truck; I kept my eyes on Laurent in front of me, he was moving toward me at a human pace and to a vampire that is a glacial place. As soon as I made a mad dash for the cab of my truck he was there blocking it from me. My hand instantly rose around my neck.

"You smell divinely, and I haven't had a good meal since I was in Canada. I believe they were French tourists. Sweet blood, I think from all that wine that they drink" he said with a smirk.

My heart started to beat louder, I wanted to scream but I was too far for anyone to hear me. Just then a car rolled up. "Need some help little lady?" one man from inside the car asked, I was about to answer when a cold arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"No need, we're fine… nothing really serious here, we've actually got a tow truck coming for us" Laurent said waving the men off. As soon as they were gone the cold hand on my shoulder began to tighten its grip. "Such an innocent lamb, with such an aroma" he whispered in my ear.

I tried to pull away, but every time a single muscle twitched in my body he tightened his grip till I was biting my lip to keep from crying out. That's when he let go and smirked coldly "There's no fun in it if your prey isn't running" he said with the sweetest voice he could muster I'm sure.

When his fingers slowly uncurled and let me go I made a run for the woods, I knew that it was pointless no matter where I went but I just needed to get away.

My heart was pounding, the sound was deafening in my ears as I felt the vibrations of the road hit the soles of my feet. I saw flickers out of the corner of my eyes; he was toying with me as I ran. By the time I made it halfway down the trail my legs were seizing up on me and I fell hard. I was scared, I felt him stand over me.

"Edward…he'll know you did it." I cried, I was shocked by my own tears, normally I cried when I was angry. I was pulled to my feet so fast that my head was spinning and it was hard to understand Laurent when he spoke.

"It's not nice to lie, I was by their home and it looked quite empty to me. So let's try that one again. Besides it doesn't matter, if he's gone there is no one to protect you from me. I'll have to just give Victoria some story about why you're dead" He said leaning in running his nose along my neck and taking a deep whiff. His hand was holding the arm of my shirt tightly I feel the cold radiating from his hand. That was when I saw the fear on his face… he tore the arm of my shirt and he ran off.

I looked around hoping to see what scared him but the woods were empty and silent again. I put my arms around my chest and crouched down and began to sob. I had just grazed death again and I did it alone, that's what scared me the most. Staying curled in the crouching ball I finally heard twigs breaking and I looked up and saw Charlie standing over me. I couldn't help myself I launched myself into his arms and hugged him.

"Bells, you had everyone worried sick, what have you been doing out here for four hours" he asked taking his jacket off and putting it around my shoulders. "Jacob called and said that you hadn't called him to tell him you got home safe. He was very worried when I said you hadn't arrived yet."

I looked around it was dark, instead of telling my father a vampire tried to kill me I told him the first thing that popped into my head "I thought I nearly hit an dog and I came to make sure but I got lost so I waited for someone to find me" I lied through me teeth. Charlie either didn't notice or let it pass that my shirt was missing a large part of the left sleeve. He helped me get back to the road and into my truck which had been towed out of the ditch.

Starting up the engine I started to head home, Charlie behind me the entire way in case I decided to run my truck off the road again. By the time we got home it was late, I was too scared to sleep so I sat up and doodled on a notepad, after a few minutes I looked at what I was drawing and I sighed. Deciding it was late enough I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed. The same question buzzed in my head 'Why did he run away?' The look Laurent had on his face was fear "so what scares a vampire?" I whispered to myself as I started to drift off to sleep


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Sweet Lamb**

**(Chapter 2 is in Bella's and Jacob's point of view and also some of the Cullens, you'll know who's who trust me)**

Sleep, that's what I wanted the most at this moment, sleep was a luxury that I couldn't indulge in for now. Everywhere I went I saw Laurent stalking me, he was even invading my dreams. When I looked at myself in the mirror I looked terrible my eyes had dark circles under them. I realized that it had only been a week since I spoke to him. I could still feel his cold grip on my shoulder at all times. I had lasted since last Saturday night without sleep; I noticed Charlie was wearing a worried look on his face.

"Dad, I'm fine I've just been having some bad dreams is all" I said putting my cereal bowl away the cabinet before heading for the front door. "Bells, I want you to get some rest you look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet" he said with a gentle smile on his face. I nodded my head and smiled back at him, I made my way upstairs and changed into a pair sweat pants and an old tee shirt.

I walked around my small bedroom and ran my fingers over the top of the rocking chair and thought of the past. Sitting in the chair I looked out the window, the swirling mist outside the window began to hypnotize me into a daze. Soon after I was hypnotized into a daze I felt my eye lids get heavy I began to drift off into sleep.

I'm such a heavy sleeper; I barely heard the telephone ringing downstairs. Pushing myself from the rocking chair I made my way down stairs and into the kitchen sat on the small table. Lifting the phone from the cradle I put it to my ear. "Swan residence, Bella speaking" I said with a yawn as I faced the back door. The bright light in the room made me close my eyes. "Hello? Is there someone there?" I asked yawning once more, "This isn't funny anymore, who ever this is I'm calling the cops if you do this again." I said trying to sound brave, that's when I heard a chuckle on the other end.

"Bells calm down it's just me Jake; sorry I was eating I didn't expect you to pick up the phone so fast. I wanted to see how you were doing. Your dad said you've been having trouble sleeping. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked in a worried tone. I laughed "Geez Jacob I'm fine, don't worry about me. It's just a little problem falling asleep that's all." I looked up from the floor and pushed some hair out of my eyes. That's when the movement at the edge of the forest caught my attention. Moving quickly I went over to the back door and bolted it shut quickly. "Well that's good, I'm free today do you maybe want me to come over and we can hang out" Jacob said, I could tell he was nervous just by the tone of his voice. I chuckled trying to keep the mood light.

"Bella, hang up the phone and lock the doors" A velvety voice whispered in my head.

I almost dropped the phone and racked my brain for an answer. "Jacob, yeah would you come over… I need a friend right now." My voice sounded more panicked than I wanted. I ran to the front door and bolted it as well. "Bella are you all right?" Jacob asked over the phone. Taking in a deep breath; just as I opened my mouth to answer the phone went dead. Now I was really scared. I looked around the living room clutching the phone against my chest; I had seen enough horror movies to know that I was in trouble. "Laurent" I whispered

"You called lamb?" he asked from behind me his hands already wrapping around my neck his finger tips moving around the front of my throat very slowly checking my pulse every few seconds. I worked hard to keep my eyes open, Laurent was doing something to me, his body and breath reminded me of Edward and my body was too tired to fight back.

"Bella… Bella, stay awake now, get away from him" the velvet voice of Edward Cullen filled my mind once again. I felt my chest begin to tighten; I knew struggling would be pointless against the stone hands of the vampire behind me. Dropping the phone I tried to duck through the opening below.

"Oh no, you don't" Laurent said his hand grabbing onto my chin and holding me in the awkward position I was in. Tilting my head up so that he was looking into my eyes he smirked at me. "Now sleep lamb, I'm sure you would like to be well rested for later" he whispered in my ear. My body was listening to the soft silky words. Soon I couldn't force my eyelids to stay open any longer.

"No… please" I whispered as I felt my body being lifted up with ease. Soon the promise of sleep was too much and I slipped into a deeper sleep. Laurent carried me out the front door and ran through Forks till we arrived at the other end of town at the former home of the Cullens. I was still asleep as he carried me over the threshold of the front door and up the stairs till we arrived at the door to a room at the top of the stairs. After putting me down inside the room he left me to sleep.

---------------

When I heard the phone go dead I knew something must have happened. After telling my father I was going out I caught a ride with Sam from the reservation, he was heading up to Forks anyway. As soon as we reached the Swan house I felt a heavy presence in the air. Going to the front door I found it wide open. Walking inside I saw the phone lying on the floor, beside it was a scrap of fabric that looked just like the shirt Bella was wearing the last time I saw her.

"Bella!" I called looking around the small two floor house, the house was empty. Grabbing the phone I found it was dead. Putting it down on the kitchen table I found a note on the table written in an elegant script.

'Dear Whomever,

If you are not Edward Cullen then pass on the message that his innocent little lamb is going to be slaughtered at sundown

P.S Better hurry, Edward... you know better than anyone how irresistible your little human's smell is.'

I looked at the note a few more times, I felt like I was going to be sick. Dropping the letter on the floor I left and went into the back yard hidden from the street I fell to my knees. I knew I was going to be sick that very moment. I lowered my head against the dew covered grass. My body shook in anger. It felt like my body was burning up when I thought of the sick twisted people who had Bella.

When I finally sat up I heard someone walk up behind me, it was Sam "Jacob let's go, we need to get home, before… well before something happens. This isn't our fight any longer. I'll explain on the way home." Sam said pulling me to my feet.

"How is this not our fight, Bella is my friend and she's in danger. We have to help her" I said as I started to pull away from man who had for so long scared me but now he had a look of wisdom in his eyes.

Sam grabbed me by my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "They want Cullen don't they? It's against the treaty for us to interfere in matters of the _bloodsuckers_ especially now. Come, I will explain it all in the car" Sam said leading me to the car, while we walked he began to tell me of my destiny as a protector and how the stories I had told Bella at the beach were real.

"But if we don't help Bella then she's going to die, that Cullen guy isn't here and it's going to be his fault. I have to help her." I said standing squarely in front of Sam looking him right in the eye.

Sam put his hand on my shoulder and sighed "Jacob, I'm sorry but it would break the treaty if we got caught up in the petty squabbles of those bloodsuckers. That Cullen brat probably started it in the first place." San remarked steering me into the car before climbing behind the wheel. The engine roared to life and we traveled away from the Swan house.

I pitched a fit as we drove home; when we finally made it back to La Push I felt my anger increases at Sam, for putting some stupid folk tales before an innocent person. "I'm going to tell my father, and he'll decided what we do not you" I roared my body shaking with anger.

-----------

"Are you sure?" Edward asked as he paced back and forth in front of me, his eyes were livid in anger as I had told him that his efforts to locate Victoria had failed and that she was back in Forks with a plan. "Pretty sure, she's hell bent on this plan in her mind. Edward you know what you have to do to make sure that Bella is safe" I said looking up at him from where I was sitting on the floor.

"Alice, I thought leaving was going to protect her and now all I've done is allowed her to be in more danger." Edward said running his hand through his hair. "I'm going, tell Carlisle and Esme I'm going' he added taking off before I could stop him. "Please hurry" I whispered, I knew he would be able to hear my words.

Looking over my shoulder I saw the others standing behind me, I tried my best to smile but my forced smile let on more than I wanted at the moment until I realized they weren't leaving till I told them why Edward left in such a hurry.

"Victoria… she's in Forks…and her thoughts are crystal clear. She wants Bella dead in retaliation for James." I said seeing the others expressions change. "Edward has gone back to make sure Bella is safe." I added.

Carlisle was the first to speak "He's not going to be able take her on alone we need to help" he said looking at all of us. "Edward is family and Bella is just as close, we need to hurry" Carlisle said taking off with Esme at his side and Jasper and I behind them.

---------------

When I finally started to wake up my fatigue was mostly gone, I wanted to sleep more but my stomach was starting to growl loudly. Looking around the room I saw the wall that was made of glass, as soon as I saw the view I knew exactly where I was. I was Edward's old bedroom before his family ran off.

Lying back down on the floor I looked up at the ceiling I couldn't stop my mind from dredging up all my memories of Edward. "Edward, where are you?" I whispered to myself as I put my arms around my chest and holding it tightly to keep the pain from ripping me apart.

"Poor little lamb, don't worry you won't suffer all this pain much longer." Laurent said silently gliding over to me in the center of the room. I tried to sit up but he was at my side in the blink of an eye.

"Now it's time to clean you up, you look terrible." He said with a smirk as he pulled me to my feet and led me to the master bathroom a floor below. Once I was in the bathroom he shut the door from outside. "Get cleaned up and be quick about it, Victoria doesn't like to wait. Your change of clothes will be on the chair in here." He said.

Looking around the bathroom I noticed the tub was filled with still steaming water, removing my pajamas I climbed in the water and pulled my legs up against my chest.

"Bella, you need to get out of the house" Edwards's voice said softly, it felt like he was right beside me. Glancing around the room I made sure I was alone. When I finished washing up I climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around my body. Venturing out into the bedroom I saw the new clothes Laurent spoke about.

Grabbing the clothes I moved quickly back into the bathroom and quickly towel dried my hair and sighed as I put the outfit on. I slid the white tank top on over my head, I sighed in relief when there was a built in bra. I put the underwear and the white floor length skirt. I blushed as I looked in the mirror, when I left the bathroom the red haired vampire that wanted me dead was standing before me.

"Come here" she said grabbing me tight enough to bruise my wrist. She pushed me into an empty chair. Working quickly she soon had my hair brushed and put up elegantly. When she saw the look on my face she smirked. "You're joining us for dinner so you have to look nice she remarked pulling me out of the room. When we got to the dining room that the Cullens never used I groaned at the thought of being their meal. That's when I saw the two bodies laying on the table. Digging my bare heels into the wood floor was useless when I was picked up and place in a chair like a young child.

"Just sit there and be quiet, noise during dinner bothers me greatly so it would be in your best interest to keep quiet." Victoria said as she moved in front of one of the bodies.

------------------------

"Leaving was so stupid" I berated myself as I ran, I needed to make sure she was safe, I didn't have to actually speak to her but just make sure that she was home safe. When I finally reached the boarder of Forks I took a deep whiff of the air, I could smell them but the smell was everywhere. They had done it to keep me from finding them right away. Taking a short cut through the woods I ran up to Bella's house and went to the front door, it was open. Walking slowly into the house I sniffed, the house was completely empty. I growled at the scents that now invaded my nostrils. Walking into the living room I found the sleeve from one of Bella's shirts on the floor. The scent that was stuck to it was filled with fear and also another vampire.

Going into the kitchen the first thing that caught my eye was the letter on the floor, rushing over I grabbed it began to read it. By the time I finished I was snarling so loud I didn't hear Charlie come home. Turning around quickly I looked at him I saw he had his gun drawn on me. He only lowered it after we had been standing like that for more than a minute.

"What are you doing in my home and where is Bella?" he asked his gun at his side. My eyes were on the gun for a few more moments before I answered him."She's missing; I just got here a few minutes ago." I answered slipping the folded letter into my pocket with swift speed.

Charlie wasn't pleased "So you just happened to show up, didn't you break her heart enough before? "He spat. I knew that my presence in Forks wasn't going to be taken with open arms, but Charlie had hit the nail on the head, I had hurt Bella and I deserved to be hated by him.

"Look hate me all you want later, but I have to go now" I roared, my anger was getting the better of me at the moment. That's when I felt the handcuffs snap around my wrists.

"Breaking and entering" Charlie said pulling me out to his cruiser, I played along for now; it would give me time to think of the riddle left by Victoria. "I want my phone call and I want a lawyer" I said knowing that it would buy me more time. The car ride to the sheriff's station was so slow compared to how I drove. When we arrived I was place in a cell with a small window. Leaning my head back against the wall I closed my eyes and thought of the riddle, in between my thoughts I sniffed the air trying to find Bella's scent on the air.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Tender Lamb  
((chapter 3 is just like chapter 2 the multiple points of view))**

My eyes had been closed for the last hour; I was too scared to move. The smell in the room was making me sick. When I had reached my breaking point I leapt to my feet and made a run for the front door. My fingertips just brushed the cool metal before an ice cold arm wrapped around my waist and flung me back into the middle of the room. I landed with a loud thump. I cringed at the radiating pain from my back. "Edward" I whispered hoping by some luck he would hear.

Victoria was standing by my left side "My…my, that's just what we wanted. Go on call him as loud as you want, Laurent you know the plan" Victoria said her hand on her hip as she looked at me.

Soon I was over his shoulder and we were outside. When I was put down on my feet I realized we were on the roof of the three story house. Before I had a chance to catch my breath I felt his hand on my back. "Go on little lamb, fly now" he whispered shoving me off the edge of the roof. I closed my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs; instead of hitting the ground I felt a pair of cold arms holding me. When I opened my eyes I saw Laurent smirking at me. At that point I was frozen with fear. Before I realized it I was back up on the roof and this time looking south over the Sol Duc River.

"This time little lamb, I might not be down there to catch you he whispered as he dragged his finger over the side of my neck, a cool breeze off the mountains blew right past us.

---------------------

I had been pacing the cell for the last hour, every time I asked my phone call everyone would ignore me and my paperwork just sat on an empty desk. I snarled at the stupidity of the humans that surrounded me. As I paced, a breeze from the Olympic mountain range floated through every open window in the station and it was then I smelled her, the wonderful fragrance that made Bella so wonderful. It sated me for a moment, until I realized that the scent was tainted with fear.

"If you don't let me out of here now, then something terrible is going to happen to Bella" I yelled getting everyone's attention. Charlie walked over "Is that a confession?" he asked walking over to the cell and looking in at me. "No it's not, I just have a feeling that she's in danger…more than ever." I said looking at the floor. I sighed to put on a show. "I know you hate me for hurting her but she needs me right now and it's going to be your fault she dies if you keep me locked in here!" I roared moving forward and slamming my hands against the bars of the causing them to almost buckle.

"Edward calm down" I looked up and saw Carlisle and Esme standing there with Alice and Jasper. "I would like to pay my son's bail and we'll leave you alone." Carlisle added taking his checkbook out and filled out the appropriate amount as I was let out of the cell. I waited till we were all outside before saying anything.

"Read" I said handing the letter over to Carlisle as we walked as a group down the sidewalk till we reached a deserted street. "Her scent is on the wind coming from the south. I'm going now to find her." I said breaking away from the group and standing there looking at the others.

-------------

The cold air against my face sent a shiver down my spine; I truly thought I wasn't going to make it this time. I felt the familiar hands on my back give a tremendous shove over the roof I screamed in such a high pitch that I lost my voice half way down, at the last moment before I knew I was going to die Laurent was there to catch me before I hit the rocks beside the river.

I tried to say something but my voice was really gone. I closed my mouth as we raced back up to the front yard and went into the house. Laurent carried me to the dining room and dumped me in a chair and placed a bottle of water in front of me before heading into the living room.

Grabbing the water I twisted the top off and started to drink, the water soothed my throat. I hoped in the back of my mind no matter where Edward was he heard me. I had no idea that he was in Forks and he was coming right to me.

It was then I started to think of Jacob, what had he thought when we were on the phone and the line had gone dead. After draining the bottle of water I dropped the empty bottle on the floor. Rising from the chair I shivered as I crept out of the dining room and into the kitchen, I knew there would be no food but the back door that led outside was my goal. Moving to the sink I slid sideways till my hand was wrapped around the handle.

Turning it as quietly as I could I slipped out of the house and made a run for the woods. I had no idea where I was going but that I had to get far away and as soon as possible. The dark woods were hard to navigate when I stopped for a breath I realized the roar of the river was getting weaker which meant I was moving away from it. As long as I was getting away from Laurent and Victoria I didn't care how long I had to run or where I was running to.

My chest was beginning to hurt from breathing in the cold air as I ran, I had to stop and catch my breath. Leaning against a tree I slid down to the ground. I couldn't see a thing and my body ached. But I knew I couldn't stop, grabbing onto a low branch I pulled myself up and continued crashing through the woods my skirt tearing and shredding as it caught on rocks and bushes.

----------------

"It seems the little lamb has wandered away and taken our bait… How far should we let her get before going after her?" Laurent asked me as he licked his lips and leaned against the white wall. I looked out the vast window and traced my fingertips over the glass as I walked away from him.

"Give her an hour or two then bring her back, we only have seventeen hours left to play with her before we get to have the sweetest feast in such a long time." I said smirking as I walked in a circle around the room.

I could tell that Laurent was not happy with my choice. "Just look at it this way, she's going to get lost in the dark and the longer she's out there the stronger her pulse will get the more her blood will pump." I said calming him down. "I haven't had this much fun in years, we need to do this more often with our prey" I remarked looking back out over the river once again.

Laurent looked at me with a glare in his eyes "I hate playing with my food, but I must admit this meal is going to be even better with her all worked up. Not to mention she does smell the best." He said with a smirk playing on his lips.

------------------

After speaking to my father for two hours I left our small house and went into the woods and started to run to try and get the thought of someone hurting Bella out of my mind. I started to run faster, the trees beside me became a blur and I realized my body was rippling in anger. That's when I felt like my body was exploding.

During that feeling I felt like I was falling but I never missed a beat as I ran, skidding to a stop I was panting. The trees around me were huge; everything around me had a scent, and there was one scent on the air that I knew. I didn't have idea where it came from but deep inside I knew it. I started to run after it, the scent; it was pulling me toward Forks. I was moving so fast, I didn't know how I wasn't making more noise than I was. As I crossed into the boarders of Forks the scent was spread everywhere I whimpered…I found a still source of water and looked into it, what looked back was the face of a wolf. So the stories were true. The scent then picked up and it was moving I kept running that's when another stranger scent assaulted my nose.

Skidding to a stop I growled and backed away slowly, I would have to go around it to get to the familiar smell. Circling the spot I sat down on my haunches and growled lightly as I tried to catch the sweeter scent again. The wind had died down and all these scents were new to me.

Going toward the smell of fresh water I had to guess I was heading for the Sol Duc River, padding through the woods slowly my ears perked up a bit a few times at the sound of small animals running around the woods were starting to make it harder to track. As I started to run again I was following my nose.

------------

"Edward, don't rush into anything. Going alone is pure suicide there are two of them and one of you. We have some time to come up with a plan" Carlisle said to me but my mind was filled with worry about the danger I had put Bella in by leaving.

I heard myself growl at what Carlisle said to me "I don't have time for planning, I've got to find her now before the deadline then we can plan." I spat out and looked over at Alice "Do you have anything?" I asked the others could see I was beating myself up for this.

"It's dark, but I hear branches breaking and water flowing, Bella isn't with them right now… but they know that and they are planning to go after her like a game." Alice said looking at the ground. I wanted to use all my strength and break something till it was nothing but powder "If Bella isn't with them, then where, are they? That could make it easier to find her." I questioned Alice with my face and words.

"Their… at our old house, which means Bella must be in the woods, before the water sound isn't that loud meaning she's moving away from the river. I just don't know where she is. With her scent all over town it's hard to pinpoint it perfectly in the woods. " she said looking at me.

I looked at my adoptive family "I'm going to do this alone, besides I need keep the police busy. Charlie isn't really on my side right now." I said with a grin. Walking down the street I ducked off the sidewalk and headed for the even darker woods behind the street I started to run faster. As I ran something that had cut into my path, from the smell I could tell that it was a werewolf, I snarled at it and back away. It may not have been able to see it but I could smell the scent coming off the mangy beast.

Moving in a circle the beast followed suite, in my mind I knew that Bella needed me but turning my back on a werewolf was dangerous even a single one. Smirking I stood my ground, we were a stalemate. "Look here you mangy wolf, I'm going to leave but that doesn't mean you've won, I've got more important things to find." I said breaking the circle and heading toward the faint scent that belong to Bella. That's when I felt the heavy paws on my back and the snarling in my ear.

"Sorry Bella, looks like I'm going to be late" I whispered as I moved away quickly and ripped a four inch thick limb off a tree that was lying on the ground. When I swung it the werewolf moved and the resounding sound was like a cannon going off when the limb exploded against another tree.

--------

Sitting with my legs up against my chest I heard what sounded like an explosion that's when I remembered the field Edward showed me when and how he ripped a tree limb right off a tree.

"Edward" I croaked, my voice was had slowly been coming back in the time I was hiding out in the woods. The cold wind had started to pick up; it was coming off the mountains and river. Shivering I picked another random direction and started to walk. I knew that I was lost but as long as I kept moving it was safe or at least I hoped it was safe. I was trying to head for the noise I heard but with the valley sounds echoed so easily.

Being barefoot out in the woods at night was painful, I slammed my feet against rocks and stepped on things I never wanted to know what they were, some I could tell by the sharpness like the thorny vines I just stepped on. The thorns were buried in my foot and I could feel my blood mixing with the dirt. Pulling my foot straight up, I wasn't sure if all the thorns came out on the vine or if there were still some in my foot. Limping to avoid my new wounds I had to sit down again. I wasn't getting far anyway so sitting still till morning could work.

I didn't realize how tired I was until the second time I sat down on the rocks that formed a natural sort of seat. Leaning back the stone behind me was comfortable and felt moldable that's when my eyes sprang open and tried to sit up only to be restrained. "I seem to be getting much better at tracking; I've been following you for the last hour." He said chuckling in my ear.

I began to struggled even though in the back of my mind I knew that Laurent was too strong but my mind had the fight or flight response activated, I ignored everything around me and continued to struggle."Your scent is so wonderful; I could use another meal tonight, so hold still m little lamb. I don't want to spill." Laurent said as he put his lips against my shoulder, I flinched at the cold. I closed my eyes and waited for him to bite.

"Ah the moonlight so beautiful, especially here with such a wonderful snack" he murmured brushing a few strands out of the way. I started to whimper as the moonlight lit up the view of the forest around us. "I thought Victoria wanted to finish me off?" I asked softly trying to stall as much as possible.

"Don't worry about that, I've convinced her that as long as you're dead it didn't matter which one of us finished the job." He whispered taking in a deep whiff, his arms tightened to keep me completely still.

---------------

I continued to circle the blood sucker in front of me; he was keeping me from the scent that seemed to be changing there was more adrenaline in it. I was starting to realize where I knew that scent. I growled and took off through the woods and headed for the scent.

Crashing through the underbrush I felt the branches slapping me in the face as I got closer. As I broke the last of the underbrush I growled loudly at the figures in front of me. Pulling my lips back over my teeth I watched both closely. The older one's scent changed, it was inviting a hunt. Moving forward I walked slowly toward them sniffing the air I moved closer till I was beside them. The girl looked at me and when our eyes met I recognized her, it was my friend Bella. The girl I had a crush on, not that I would ever admit it I had to protect her from being hurt by this man and Edward Cullen. As the bloodsucker in front of me let Bella go I moved forward and growled.

Bella rose to her feet and backed away from me; turning my attention to the bloodsucker I moved forward and watched him move away. When he finally broke out into a run I was right on his heels. I wasn't going to let him get away with being close to Bella at all. The vampire was silent as he ran but I was hot on his scent as we ran through the woods.

The most important thing in my mind was taking out the blood sucker that threatened Bella, and then I could go back and make sure that she was safe from him. Crashing through the underbrush I panted as I ran and avoided the trees that flew past me. I just hoped that I would get back to Bella before that other bloodsucker found her.

-----------------

The first thought that went through my mind was if Bella was all right, running from the small clearing I followed her scent till I came across a figure standing a few yards away. Moving slowly I pushed a branch out of my way when a rock came flying past my head.

"Stay back, I have more rocks Laurent" Bella said, I could hear her voice was wavering slightly and sounded hoarse. I chuckled a bit and stepped forward out of the shadows. "A simple rock isn't going to hurt him" I said as another rock flew at me and hit me in the shoulder that time. "What was that for?" I asked walking closer to her. "That was for being late, and for being a jerk" she replied I could smell her tears that were trying to force their way out. I smirked and pulled Bella up against me. "I'm sorry for leaving you; I put you in more danger by leaving." I said petting her hair as I held her close.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Lion, the Lamb and the Lupine**

**((You all know by now))**

The feeling of Edward's cold arms around me brought back so many memories that I was torn between crying into his shoulder and yelling at him for leaving in the first place. Soon I settled for something in between. I began to pound my closed fists against his strong shoulder as I cried.

When his hands gripped both my wrists and held them together I looked at him in the moonlight and felt the air catch in my throat. "I'm not going anywhere" he whispered as he leaned in and place his ice cold a lip against mine, the kiss was incredible. This time I remembered to breathe through my nose to keep from passing out. When we finally pulled apart I had forgotten all my anger toward Edward. It was a gift that he had when he kissed me.

"How did… no, just don't let go" I whispered staying close to Edward, I could feel him smirk as he held me. "I have to, just for a little bit, then I'll hold you for as long as you want" he replied as he pulled away. I grabbed his jacket and held it tightly; now that I had him there I didn't want to let him go. "No…no, you can't I won't let you. You just came back I'm not going to let you do this alone." I said holding him in a vice grip. "Just stand behind me, and trust me" he said moving in front of me as Victoria appeared from the trees. Her red hair was even more fly away than ever. I felt a shiver go up my spine. In the limited light my eyes darted around as I searched the tree line for any sign of Laurent. When Edward began to snarl and back up I grabbed the back of his jacket. "You know we're on top of a huge cliff right" I said looking over my shoulder to see the edge of the cliff coming closer.

Edward only chuckled "You trust me right?" he asked, I nodded my head "yes I trust you" I whispered. "Good, because it's not that high and the river is right below us, you would survive the fall if anything happened to me" he whispered keeping his eyes on the two vampires waiting for them to strike. I wanted to put my foot down there but I knew that Edward would never put me in danger if he didn't have to, though at the moment I wasn't counting the fact he left in the first place and put me in danger. It was a standoff, I could feel the air get heavy around us I wanted to say something but I knew that Edward had to concentrate.

Then it happened with my human eyes I was unable to keep up with their movements as they began to circle us. Knowing the fact that we were so high up was starting to make me nervous. That was when they attacked; it was so quick that I didn't realize I was falling till I hit the ice cold water of the river. The current was weak as I swam for shore, when I climbed out of the water I was shaking at the cool air that was giving me goose bumps. That's when I noticed the panting of a large animal hidden among the trees.

Stumbling backwards I fell back onto a fallen tree as the creature came forward, it was a giant wolf. It walked slowly towards me; its eyes looked me over as it circled. On its second pass the large wolf laid down beside me, the heat coming from its body felt nice. "You're like a walking blanket." I whispered feeling an overwhelming urge to lie against the giant beast. Its tail wrapped around my shoulders like a blanket as curled up, I felt safe like when Jacob would hold me. I wanted to hug him but he was so warm and my body was so cold that I just felt like sleeping. I gave up forcing my eyes open and just let them close.

-----------

Esme and I had begun to worry about Edward; Alice had told us that was facing Victoria and Laurent alone. After some debate I sent Alice and Jasper to find Bella. There was a chance that she was wandering the forest alone and in need of some medical attention. She was a sweet girl but she attracted danger and injuries like a magnet. When we reached the scene of the fight it was a stalemate.

"Did you guys find Bella, she went over the cliff and into the river, and she climbed out and is right below us." He said keeping his eyes on the two in front of him.

Esme's eyes glanced at the cliff; I could tell she was worried about Bella. As a doctor I knew that the river was freezing this time of year. There was high chance of hypothermia, I had seen a few cases of campers falling into the water and nearly freezing to death. "Alice and Jasper will find her, now let's take care of these two" I said taking a step forward. I stopped when Edward's hand shot out and blocked me from moving "Don't, they have planned this they're going to try and split us up. That's why I've been at a stalemate this long" Edward said, that was when I saw him smirk. At first I was lost until I realized that he was going to turn their own; plan against them. I watched Edward rush the two before us and circle them with such speed that it shocked even me.

I looked over at Esme before I took off and started to circle as well I could sense that it was working. They were backing off, When Esme joined in the circling Victoria and Laurent were intimidated. They started north, as fast as they could. Edward and I followed at their heels for most of the chase. When we felt they were far enough away we turned back and headed to where Esme was waiting at the halfway mark. When we arrived back in Forks we made our way down the cliff in the blink of an eye, Alice and Jasper were waiting more than ten feet from Bella.

"We've hit a snag" Alice said motioning over her shoulder. I looked where she motioned, there was Bella lying peaceful she looked even paler than us the moon light made her glow almost.

The problem Alice was talking about glared at me and started to snarl at us. I clicked my tongue a bit. "Well this is a problem, if she went into the water like you said then we need to warm her up before it's too late." I said taking a step forward slowly both my hands were raised in the air. "I mean no harm to you, but I am a doctor and Bella needs me" I said calmly as I moved a bit closer. I was give another snarl and barred teeth this time.

"I swear I mean her no harm, now just calm down" I said in a calm but firm tone when I finally got close enough to crouch down and touch Bella I gave a small sigh that I was being trusted enough. Moving the large tail aside I place my hand against Bella's cheek she was ice cold, colder than any human should ever be.

"Bella… Bella come on open your eyes for me" I said loudly shaking her shoulder with one hand and checking for a pulse with the other. It was faint but it was there. In all medical sense she should be dead by now but the werewolf's warm body kept her core temperature high enough to keep her alive.

I looked at the wolf "You saved her life, now please let me take her home" I said being respectful and waiting for a sign that I could pick her up. When the wolf stopped growling I slowly picked Bella up and walked over to Edward.

"Take her home right now and get her warmed up as much as you can, she's got hypothermia, when you've gotten in the front door say you have called me I'll be there to help" I said as Edward took off with near sonic boom speed. I hoped this would smooth some things over with Charlie Swan.

---------------

When I came to a stop in front of Bella's house I went to the door and knocked as best as I could, the door was nearly ripped off its hinges. "I found her in the woods… she's not waking up, it looks like hypothermia, I've already called my father he said he would meet us here, he should be here soon." I said pretending to be tired. At first Charlie didn't look like he was going to budge but having his daughter in danger he ushered me into the living room and the moment I put Bella on the couch Carlisle walked in with Esme and Alice in tow. The first thing was that Esme and Alice shooed us out of the room as they undressed Bella from the wet torn clothes and put her in dry clothes and wrapped her up in a warm blanket.

By the time I was back in the room I could barely see Bella under all the blankets, she still hadn't woken up yet. Claiming that I needed some air I walked out the front door and walked to the side of the house. "I know your there so stop hiding already" I said as the young man whom I could only guess was the man Bella had mentioned, I believe she called him Jacob. I knew him as the smelly werewolf that saved Bella. "How is she?" he asked not moving any closer to me.

"She's still not waking up, if you hadn't been there then she could have frozen to death…so I guess I should say thank you despite my feelings" I said trying to sound civil. Jacob just glared at me "I didn't do it for you bloodsucker, I did it because Bella is my best friend and I care about her, she's only in this danger because she got involved with you" he growled out at me. He turned away and started to walk back toward the woods "Oh yeah, you don't deserve her… if you really loved her then you never would have left her to nearly get killed" he added as he disappeared into the dark woods.

I looked down at the ground and stared at it, the wolf was right, it was my fault. I barely noticed Alice until she touched my arm. "Bella's waking up" she said smiling as she pulled me into the house against my will. I didn't even argue or struggle, there was a part of me that wanted to see Bella and beg her to forgive me for leaving her and putting her in danger. Crouching down I took her hand and held it in mine, it was starting to warm up back to normal. I couldn't help but smile at her. I ran my thumb over the back of her hand as she looked around the room at everyone. When I quickly swooped in and kissed her I could feel a pair of eye boring into me. Pulling away slowly I looked at Charlie and smiled a bit. But I could see that it wasn't going through. "Well, we should be going, Bella if you start to feel worse you should either give me a call or go to the hospital." Carlisle said putting his hand on my shoulder and pulled me to my feet. As we headed for the door we were stopped by Charlie. "I'll see you at your court date in three weeks" he said keeping his voice down as he kept his back to Bella. I nodded my head and left with the others.

I let Carlisle lead me toward the sidewalk, I wanted to go sit in Bella's room and wait for her but she needed to rest. We headed home and saw Jasper out front sitting on the steps waiting for us. He explained what was waiting for us inside, Carlisle sighed a bit and went inside and took care of the mess quickly and disposed of the bodies deep in the woods where no one went.

I immediately went up to my room; as soon as I opened the door I caught a whiff of Bella's scent. She had been kept here. Lying on the floor in the center of the room I looked up at the ceiling. The sky outside was beginning to lighten. The room around me was starting to fill with natural light. "Alice what are you doing in here?" I asked leaning my head back farther to look at the pixie like girl. "I was just bored, everyone else is cleaning up the house and I was wondering where you snuck off to is all" she said sitting cross legged by my head.

"I'm just thinking that if I could redo everything and not have met Bella how different my life might be. " I said looking up at Alice as she gazed down at me. She smiled at me "You would be even more moody than you are right now" she said laughing. Rolling my eyes I reached up and pushed head face away and sighed.

"That werewolf, he followed us to Bella's place and he told me I didn't deserve Bella, I think he's right. I'm too dangerous for her despite my feelings for her. Before you even say it I don't want you setting anything up Alice… I already see your mind whirling with ideas." I said as I watched my sister get to her feet and leave the room. I tried to listen to my own thoughts about Bella. Getting up from the floor I locked my door and dropped to the floor again my feet against the wall this time. I kept my eyes on a certain spot on the ceiling; I watched it as the sun rose and lit the room up. From my position on the floor I could hear everyone in the living room talking.

"He's locked himself in his room and being his depressed self again from a couple months ago." Alice said sitting on the couch.

I kept as still as a statue as I listened to my family. A part of me wanted to drown their voices out with music but another part wanted to hear their voices.

I could hear Esme walking around "Did he happen to say what put him in this depression?" she asked Alice. At that point I couldn't stop my body from getting up and going down the stairs and I was out the front door before I knew it. The sky had become deeply overcast. I smirked and walked at a human pace down the driveway, walking slowly gave me a chance to think about things. The first thing I knew was that I was going to do was keep my distance from Bella till her father calmed down.

----------------

"Edward it's been almost two months since we've really spent any time together outside of school." I said upset that Edward had been acting so nonchalantly about it. It was starting to annoy me greatly. I looked over at my boyfriend as he leaned back against a tree trunk at the end of the school day.

"Well your father is ready to gun me down at a moment's notice, not to mention he still thinks I had something to do with that kidnapping two months ago. I'm just trying to stay out of trouble." He said shrugging his shoulders a bit.

I sighed and threw my arms up into the air. "Well I'm going home and you forget about any dates with me that you were thinking of having." I said turning and walking away.

Soon Edward was right behind me; I stopped walking when his arm went around my waist and held me close."Now Bella, don't be hasty… who would be punished more." He whispered in my ear. I started to fall apart; my train of thought had crashed the moment he started to whisper.

I tried to hold longer but I gave in to temptation and sighed "I would, you could come over tonight Charlie is going down to La Push to see Billy for a little while." I said as he finally let me go and walked off toward my truck. By the time I got in and started the truck up he was drumming his fingers against his knee. After sitting in line behind the other cars we traveled through town till we came to my street. That when I noticed a familiar car sitting in front of my house.

Pulling my truck into the driveway I turned the engine off and climbed out of the cab and circled the front and headed for the front door where Jacob was sitting and waiting for me. I knew that this was going to turn out bad, Edward and Jacob were like cats and dogs, they were going to fight I just knew it.

"Bella, I came to see how you were feeling, I was so busy at home that I forgot to call and ask you." Jacob said smiling at me. He moved over and hugged me for a few moments before he heard Edward start to snarl at him. I looked over at Edward "Before you start fighting can you two try and be civil just this once?" I asked looking at both boys. That's what they were; they were acting like little immature boys. Both of them continued to snarl at each other, sighing I looked around the yard. "If you're going to fight can you at least do it in the back yard so no one will see you" I said going to the front door an unlocking it before going inside and slamming the door behind me.

Going into the living room I looked out through the sheer curtains at the two outside and they circled each other. I knew I would have to go out and split them up soon but only if they started to throw any punches. "So immature" I mumbled to myself, Edward looked at the window, I knew he heard me so all I could do was smirk and head into the kitchen to get something to drink. I waited for the crash or screams, when they didn't come I put the glass down on the counter and went outside to find Edward and Jacob glaring at each other.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Fighting for the Lamb**

**(You know what I'm going to say) ((Please review people I need reviews to survive))**

"Mangy wolf, what do you want with Bella anyway, she's not interested in you. She wants a real man not you" Edward said with a smirk on his face. I sat on the stoop and rested my chin in my hand I knew that they would tire themselves out soon.

"Yeah, so are you just a substitute until she finds him" the werewolf said laughing before he was tackled to the ground by the teenage vampire.

I watched them wrestle in the mud as they rolled down the yard. "Hormones" I mumbled as their snarling got louder as they walked a circle in the mud. Edward's shirt was sticking to his chiseled chest. Jacob on the other hand was missing a large part of his shirt. I couldn't help but look. That's when they both froze and pulled apart, at that moment Charlie's cruiser came down the road and pulled in the driveway. As he climbed out of the car he stared at Edward and Jacob.

Quickly I came up with a lie "Jacob is helping us with a school project on African mud wrestling" I said hoping that Charlie bought it. Nodding his head he kept looking at the two "I'm going to get changed then I'm going to head over to Billy's to watch the game, I'm going to eat there, so don't forget to make diner and you two are going to be careful." He ordered more than asked as he headed past me into the house. As soon as the door shut Edward looked at me. "African mud wrestling?" he asked with a smirk on his lips.

When Charlie came back out dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt he waved at us and climbed back into the cruiser and took off. As soon as he was out of sight Jacob snarled at Edward and threw another punch only to have Edward dodge it and lean up against the tree in the front yard.

"Oh don't get upset now, and take your beating like a man" Edward said from his spot by the tree. I rolled my eyes slightly. "I can't, I'm a wolf" Jacob said as he looked at me and winked. I couldn't help but giggle at his wit.

Edward just rolled his eyes at me for encouraging Jacob in the first place. "You know at least I can go outside and spend time with Bella on sunny days, because I don't light up like a Christmas ornament." Jacob called from his spot across the yard.

"Well at least I don't have to get checked for worms and fleas every month" Edward responded crossing his arms across his chest. By that point I had, had enough of their bickering. "You two can both clean up and join me inside or you can explain to my father why you're still fighting when he gets home again tonight." I said dusting myself off before I started to head inside. Just as I went inside the house I heard Edward and Jacob still snarling at each other. I caught bits of their argument as headed into the kitchen and started to make dinner. As I preheated the oven the front door opened and two sets of footsteps entered the house.

"Don't track mud in the house, I don't want to clean up any mud" I said turning around and looking at the two boys I chuckled softly at how they looked. "I hope you two worked out your problems for now" I said turning back to the pan on the stove. Both of them mumbled something that I missed. "Well there is only so one bathroom so you'll have to share" I remarked putting the last of the chicken in the pan.

Edward smirked "Well I'll take a shower, but maybe you should get the hose out for Fido here" he said walking away and up the stairs to the bathroom. "Jacob I'm sorry about this, I also wanted to say thank you for saving me" I said softly my cheeks turning red.

"Bella I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies with me next week, we'll just go as friends." Jacob said standing in the doorway to the back yard to keep the mud out of the kitchen. I thought for a moment. "All right, Edward did you hear that?" I asked in a normal toned voice, I heard a muffled response coming from the bathroom at the top of the stairs.

I put the chicken in the oven and set the timer and took a seat at the table. We both looked up when we heard the shower turn off and the door open. There was a long pause before Edward came into the kitchen wearing his clothes that were covered in mud before but now they were clean and dry. "I took a quick run outside to dry my clothes" he remarked at my staring.

Jacob shook the dried mud that had had been dried by his body heat and smirked and shook himself off creating a dirt pile at the back door. "So Bella, which movie would you like to see?" Jacob asked taking a seat across the table from Edward. "She's not going with you to the movies; I'm going to take her."

I quickly moved in to control them before they destroyed the house. "I'll go with both of you to a different movie on a different night so it won't conflict" I said hoping to ease them down from their anger.

"Bella let me talk to you in the other room" Edward said grabbing me by arm and pulling me into the living room, I looked into his liquid gold eyes and saw that he was upset. "Edward, Jacob is my friend and you are my boyfriend so don't worry." I said softly. Edward smiled for a moment and ran his hand through his hair.

"He's dangerous" Edward remarked looking at me intensely. I smiled as I looked back at him "You said the same thing about yourself" I responded with a smirk on my lips.

------------

Sitting in the kitchen I thought about how without me then Bella could have died. Glancing over my shoulder at her I watched her. That's when the bloodsucker looked at me; I had the distinct feeling that he knew my thoughts. Looking away I watched the timer on the stove tick down as I made it harder to tell that I was listening in on the conversation. I could pick up a few words but I knew that I was missing most of the conversation.

"I'm a monster, Bella; I do nothing but hurt you, and see even now you're crying! What did I do? I'm trying to keep you safe from that fleabag in there! You attract danger and don't know what's good for you! Are you stupid, Or just suicidal?" Edward said his voice harsh and raised tone.

Getting up from the seat I waited a moment before entering the living room to see if Bella was going to respond. So what if I am, maybe you never should have stopped that truck from crushing me. Maybe it would have been better if I died then... just go I don't want to talk to you anymore tonight" Bella responded in a strained voice I could tell she was trying not to cry. Moving into the living room I heard the front door slam. "Bella are you all right?" I asked putting my hand on her small shoulder.

I could feel her shaking, putting my arms around Bella I pulled her close to show that I was there for her. Rubbing her back softly I was unsure of how to really comfort her. We stood there for what seemed like forever we both jumped when the buzzer on the stove went off. Bella pulled out of my arms and went to check the meat. Leaning against the door frame I snapped out of my haze when I notice that Bella had gone outside into the back yard.

"Sorry, I was thinking about Edward and I got so mad again I started to cry." She said looking up from the bottom step. "Bella I may hate that guy but he is right about one thing, he's dangerous. What would happen if one day he just got a little too hungry around you? Someday I might not be there to save you like in the woods." I responded sitting down on the top of the stairs. She looked up at me and sighed softly. "I know and I never got to really thank you for that, I owe you a lot Jacob, I really can't say thank you enough." She said smiling a bit.

"Well if you want to thank me you'll let me take you to the movies this weekend just the two of us as friends. " I said not wanting to push her into anything suddenly. Especially after the fight she had just been in.

We sat in silence for a moment until the phone rang in the kitchen. I moved over and let her inside to answer it. I closed my eyes and listened to the one half of the conversation from what I could tell it was a friend of Bella's that was asking her a question about a school assignment. Normally I wasn't the type to eavesdrop but I couldn't help myself this time.

--------------------

I ran as fast as I could and then pushed myself harder, I wanted to get away but I ended up circling town a few times and heading for the meadow where I showed off for Bella. Every time I started to think of her I got up from the ground and ran in a circle around the meadow. Throwing myself into the ground I ignored the feelings it caused, in my mind I thought if I injured myself enough that it would make my other pain go away. As I got to my feet intent on repeating the process I sensed someone behind me. Turning around I saw Carlisle coming out of the trees and moving toward me.

"I don't want to talk right now" I said my feet were rooted to the spot despite the fact I wanted to run fast and far. I stood there and looked at Carlisle. "We could hear you all the way from home, now there is something bothering you. And I'm not going until you tell me what it is, that has you so upset Edward." Carlisle said as he kept his eyes on me.

I just wanted to run and hide till everything blew over but I knew that Carlisle would never leave me alone. "I don't want to talk about it" I said slowly backing away from him.

"Edward you stop right there, you know you're not that old, I can still put you over my knee." Carlisle said laughing a bit. I stopped walking and broke into a grin. "Fine we'll talk, but only to a certain point." I said standing there. We both took off running as we headed home. When we walked in the front door the others were circling me like I was a choice cut; they wanted to know if I was all right. After pulling myself away from everyone I walked into the study and took a seat and leaned my head back against the leather couch. I could hear all of them talking down stairs their words normally were crystal clear to me but today I just didn't want to listen. Carlisle walked into the study and shut the wooden door behind him.

I just sat there like a statue as he crossed the room and took a seat behind his desk. The large cherry wood Grandfather clock ticked loudly in the corner. I was expected to speak but all I could do was sit there and run the day through my mind. The harsh words that I had said now repeated in my mind. I didn't mean to let them all out but I couldn't help it.

"You're going to have to say something if you want to stop hurting" Carlisle said looking at me from across the room. I pulled my gaze from the spot on the wall and looked at him. I thought over my words very carefully before speaking. "I really made things worse…I said some things that can't be taken back with just saying sorry. Not to mention she's spending time with that mangy wolf Jacob Black." I said, my anger was rising again I wanted to punch a hole through the wall.

Carlisle chuckled at me and sat back in his seat. "I understand now, it's clear to me now. Edward you're jealous of this Jacob Black person. You afraid that he's going to take the one person you care about away from you. And no matter what you said to her I'm sure Bella still cares for you." he said smiling at me. This infuriated me more "She's the one who insists on being friends with someone as dangerous as that wolf and I don't need her; she's better off without me around anyway!" I yelled leaving the room and going up to my room, I slammed and locked the door behind me.

Throwing myself on to the couch I laid there my hands tightening into fists so that my nails broke the surface of my palms.

----------------

Walking out of my study the others looked at me from the bottom of the stairs. I gave Esme a reassuring smile. "Nothing more than a little lover's spat, it will all blow over in a few days and everything will be back to normal between them" I said glancing over my shoulder in the general direction of Edward's room. I wanted to go up there and speak to him but I also wanted him to calm down a little first.

Esme walked over to my side "Carlisle please, can you tell me the truth what's going on I haven't seen Edward act like this in a while. I'm worried about him" she said. Not wanting to worry Esme I walked with her into the kitchen. "Well from what Edward has told me it seems that Jacob Black from the Quileute tribe in La Push, has a bit of a crush on Bella, and it seems like Edward is jealous. After an argument with Bella he was in a meadow beating him-self up over what he said to her." I said tapping my fingers against the granite counter top.

"Well this needs to be settled now, the longer this festers the worse it will get" Esme said making her way toward the door. Moving over I grabbed her arm softly. "This is Edward's mess, he needs to make mistakes and the most important thing is that he needs to fix this with Bella himself." I said calmly as I slowly let Esme's arm go "Besides if we get involved we might make it worse." I added chuckling. Walking out of the kitchen I smiled at the rest of my family. "No need to worry everything is fine." I reassured.

"For now I think we should leave Edward to his own thoughts for now" I added looking at Alice. She nodded knowing that I meant her most of all. Waving the others off to do as the pleased I walked into the living room and looked out the giant windows out at the woods.

-----------------

By the time I got off the phone with Jess I could smell the chicken and the buzzer wasn't even going off, when I walked back into the kitchen Jacob was putting his plate on the table. I couldn't help but smile. "Thanks Jacob, I almost forgot about dinner… Jess, my friend from school she needed some help on the assignment for class." I said taking my seat "I was actually shocked she called I did kind of blow all my friends off when I was going through my really depressed phase a few months ago. But I have been trying to get them back" I added as Jacob passed me the plate of chicken.

"Isn't that plate hot?" I asked noticing that Jacob wasn't using a pot holder. He shook his head and sat down across from me. "No it's really warm but that's about it. My body is really warm now so things like this barely bother me." He said smiling. At that point there were so many questions that I wanted to ask but I realized that many of them were not good table talk as many people put it. Dinner went by pretty quickly. After dinner Jacob helped put the leftovers away and wash the dishes. By eight I was yawning after such a long day, I walked Jacob to the door and we said our goodnights. Before he left Jacob leaned down "You can always count on me to protect you" he whispered in my ear before placing the softest kiss I ever felt on my cheek.

Waving at me as he ran over to his car he got in and took off. In a daze I closed the door and left the lights on downstairs. Going upstairs I sat on my bed and put my hand against my cheek.

"So I come here to talk you into coming with me and talking Edward out of his slump. And I find you having dinner and flirting with a werewolf. How dare you do such a thing to Edward, he really cares about you" Rosalie said walking towards me.

Backing up against the wall I keep my eyes on Rosalie. "If you're going to hurt Edward like this then you better stay away from him, I told him that you were no good for him. But he insisted you were special to him. I clearly see that it was a poor choice, now I'm only going to tell you this once. Stay away from Edward he doesn't need you."She said coming closer till she was in my face. My heart was pounding in my ears. I didn't need advice on my love life from a girl who clearly hated me. "Fine, in fact I never want to see him ever again, you can tell him about the kiss if you want. I don't care anymore" I yelled in spite of how I really felt, I was just mad that she was sticking her nose in where it didn't belong.

"Fine, sleep tight..." she said smirking then she was gone in the blink of an eye. I sighed loudly and closed my bedroom window.

Changing my clothes I climbed in bed and turned my bedroom light off before trying to fall asleep.

I rolled over a few times trying to find the perfect position to sleep, soon I was sitting up in bed, and grabbing my blanket I trudged down stairs to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Sleep was illusive to me that night since I had so much on my mind. I looked out the back windows at the forests behind the house.

My memories floated back to when Edward left the last time and I had gotten lost in those woods. Something about them made me was to just lie down and let time fly past me.

As I put my head down on the kitchen table I started to close my eyes I didn't fight to keep them open any longer. My mind fell into an uneasy sleep as I slept at the kitchen table. The jolting sound of the microwave woke me up, looking around the kitchen I saw Charlie standing there dressed for work smiling at me. "Morning, you look like you could use some more sleep, that's why I already called ahead to your school and said you would be taking a personal day. Don't worry about any papers due today I'll drop off anything you need dropped off." Charlie said smiling as he sipped his coffee.

"Thanks dad, I'll just get the report from my room" I said yawning as I got up from the table and walked back upstairs and grabbed the report from my desk and brought it back downstairs. On the cover was a post-it note with the teacher's name for the administration office. When Charlie left I washed the dishes he left behind and walked into the living room and turned on the television just for noise. I hated to admit it but ever since Laurent had kidnapped me, being in this house alone scared me half to death. Huddling up on the couch I turned the volume on the television down a bit and let my head fall back against the back of the couch and once again I tried to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Loving a Lamb**

**(Yeah you know the drill) (Reviews are really welcomed people)**

I watched the forests from my window as the sun light brightened the sky then was covered by dark clouds. It seemed the weather was mirroring how I was feeling. I ignored going to school for obvious reasons, and what was the point I had already learned all of it at some point. We just went to school to keep up appearances anyway. Pacing my room a bit I went over my choices in my mind. I could go see Bella and apologize, but what was there to apologize about I had only told her the truth. I didn't understand women sometimes. Bella was no different, she may have awoken something in me but she was still as confusing, I wanted her for myself but at times I knew I was too dangerous for her. "She just doesn't get it sometimes" I said to myself as I stood at the window.

Without turning around I knew that someone had entered my room. Turning around to be polite I looked at Esme. She looked worried about me. "I'm fine, I'm just thinking some things over" I said keeping my distance. "Edward, take my advice, if you sit around here and sulk all day you're just going to upset yourself even more. Why don't you come out with us for a hunting trip" she offered with a smile. I shook my head. "I'm not hungry right now, maybe later" I mumbled. I waited till I heard the click of the door before I looked back out the window at the river. I closed my eyes; Bella's scent was still lingering in the air. I wanted to get rid of it but another part of me wanted to keep it. I snarled lightly when my door opened again. "What do you want Rosalie?" I spat not bothering to keep my annoyance under control.

Rosalie danced across the room and perched herself on my couch. I watched her out of the corner of my eye until she was ready to speak. "I don't know how to tell-" I cut her off before she said anything else. "Don't bother to finish, I already know what you're going to say to me" I said looking away I tried to mask my pain that I was feeling that Bella would move so quickly into the comfort of the arms of a werewolf. "Now Edward I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but I told you that she wasn't good enough for you. I know that learning the truthful can be hurtful. I'll leave you to your own thoughts."She remarked getting up from the couch and leaving the room.

Moving away from the window I grabbed my hair with both my hands and tugged as I tried to think of what to do next. I needed to see Bella but at the same time we were both fighting with each other. Leaving my room I walked down to the living room and sat down at the piano and ran my fingers over the keys with the softest touch. Closing my eyes I began to play a somber tune. I could sense the house was empty; everyone else had left to go hunting in the mountains probably. My thoughts drifted away from the idea of hunting and back to the music as I played.

---------------

The ticking clock in the living room was consistent it had put me to sleep hours ago when I finally woke again it was nearing one in the afternoon. I opened my eyes slowly and yawned. My hair was a mess as I got up from the couch. For a moment I forgot what I was doing downstairs, and then everything came back at me like a ton of bricks, my fight with Edward and the kiss from Jacob.

Sighing softly I went upstairs and looked around the room for any signs of Rosalie or anyone else before grabbing some sweatpants and a tee shirt. As I finished changing the doorbell rang, the first thought that came to mind was that it was either Victoria or Laurent here to finish me off for good.

I walked downstairs slowly and went to the front door, looking through the peep hole I saw Jacob standing there. I pulled the door open and smiled. "I wanted to apologize for the other day, the fighting I mean with the leech…I mean Edward." Jacob said handing me a small wooden box, opening the box I saw a small wooden carved wolf necklace. "What's this for?" I asked looking up at Jacob.

"Think of it like protection, and also it's a symbol that we're still friends no matter what happens between us." He said calmly with a smile. Putting the box down, he picked the necklace up and put it over my head. I smiled "Thanks, it's really beautiful" I said pushing some hair over my shoulder. "After you left last night Edward's sister Rosalie was in my room waiting for me, she… she saw you kiss my cheek last night and she told me to stay away from Edward." I said my hand reaching up for the carved necklace around my neck.

Jacob scowled a bit "She didn't need to put her nose in your business, besides he's the one that instigated that fight in the first place." he remarked walking past me and going into the living room. When I got into the room Jacob was sitting on the couch patting the couch beside him. I walked into the room and sat beside him. Jacob looked like he was in deep thought, by the time I was settled into my seat he was looking at me with intense eyes that made me feel that I was his prey being stalked. I reminded myself to breathe, his stare reminded me of Edward's but there was something different behind them.

Before I could even process what he was doing his lips were pressed against mine, the contrast between his Edward's lips were so drastic that it took me a few moments to realize that he was kissing me. My mind was swimming through the warm haze that was Jacob's kiss, when I pulled away I was speechless. By the time I got my mind working again I wondered how much time had passed. "Jacob, I'm sorry but I love Edward" I said calmly trying to make Jacob see that. That's when I heard someone clear their throat, spinning around I came face to face with Edward. "We have one little fight and I come here when Alice calls saying you've vanished and I find you locking lips with this dog and you claim you love me." he remarked in an icy velvet voice. The words were so cold that they froze my voice in my throat. I couldn't breathe when I looked up into his burning gold eyes; I felt my voice catch in my throat a second time as I kept trying to speak to Edward. Reaching forward I grabbed his cold arm and hugged it with all my strength. "I do love you" I finally got out after a moment; my arms had started to go numb as I held on.

----------------

I stood frozen like a statue with Bella hugging my arm, slowly slipping my arm from her weak grip I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close till she was molded perfectly against my body. I looked down at her, I could see the pain her eyes. Immediately I pressed my lips to hers, ignoring the werewolf stink I held her in the kiss and felt her put her arms around my neck and pull me in deeper.

I pulled away when I felt her grip start to go weak, I could tell she was running out of air and needed to breathe. "I hope that one was better than the dogs?" I asked with a smirk. She could only nod. I shift Bella so she was standing to the side of me. Moving with quick speed I was in front of the wolf before he realized. Pulling my fist back I let it fly right into his jaw and sent the wolf into the wall. "Don't think you're getting away with kissing my girlfriend without consequences" I said coolly. I looked at Bella and smirked as I dodged a tackle that sent the love sick werewolf crashing into the hallway. The tight confines of the house were making it hard to fight but if had to happen inside then fine.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched Bella slip out of the room and into the kitchen to be safe. I slid to my right as the wolf lunged at me again. I heard a crunch I thought it was the wolf's neck at first but it turned out to be the wooden frame of the couch snapping in two.

"Tsk… Tsk Bella's not going to like you destroying her house." I said just before I was tackled to the floor. "Get off me you smelly beast" I groaned trying to push him off but at the same time keep him from punching me in the face. When I was finally free I quickly moved around the room as best I could as I was dodging what was left of the couch and the rest of the furniture in the room.

I could hear Bella in the other room muttering something about replacing the couch but I wasn't concentrating on her. At the moment I was trying to protect her from her own stupid mistakes of getting close to this wolf. While I was preoccupied with my fight I almost missed the sound of breaking glass in the kitchen. My first thought was that Bella had knocked over something made of glass.

That's when the scent hit my nose and I froze, I saw Jacob stand still as well "Bella, can you come in here for a moment?" I asked my voice holding the slightest hint of worry. The seconds ticked by as I waited for a response.

"I'll be there in a second I knocked over Renée's glass" she said calmly. I paused before speaking. I wondered why should would mention her mother then I realized it was code "Don't worry about it why don't you come in here" I said motioning to the wolf that Bella was once again in danger. "I'm almost done in here" she answered.

"Bella I'm going home now, I'll see you later" Jacob called closing the door to emphasize his departure. By the time I made it to the kitchen door I saw Bella standing as still as a statue in the middle of the kitchen she was being held by the base of her hair in Laurent's tight grip. I snarled as his grip tightened or had his grip tightened because of me.

The window to the kitchen was broken in. "Bella… Bella… Bella, it's been too long since our last little visit together hasn't it… about three months now." Laurent said chuckling, I snarled again as I watched him lean in and start to blow lightly against Bella's neck sending her scent toward me.

I looked into Bella's eyes and with my eyes I showed her that I had a plan. I was about to move when the russet colored werewolf burst in through the back wall and tackled Laurent and Bella to the ground. I growled and noticed that Bella was moving and crawled free from the other vampire. Grabbing her hand I pulled her to her feet.

"Bella, the others will be here soon to keep you safe… Alice would have seen this and the others will be here very soon to get you out of here." I said pushing Bella behind me as we backed out of the kitchen. We were backing up down the hall; we entered the living room and moved as far into the farthest corner as possible.

--------------

In the kitchen I could hear loud crashes, I worried about Jacob he was in there fighting Laurent alone. One moment Edward was in front of me like a stone barrier and the next he was across the room and the wall above him was destroyed. I barely took a step before Victoria was in front of me her hand around my throat. My eyes were locked with her crimson ones; I knew that if I lived through this that those eyes would haunt my dreams.

Victoria slowly began to tighten her grip it was only going to be a matter of seconds before I would stop breathing. Breathing was getting harder, I didn't fight since I knew that it would be pointless to try and fight her. I didn't want to die, but my chances of making it were looking very slim at this point. I could hear Edward yelling at Victoria to let me go but the words coming from his mouth was starting to get fuzzy.

When I heard a thunderous crash I thought my world was over that's when a flutter of long blonde hair caught my eye. I blinked and the whole Cullens were now standing in what used to be my living room. The wall beside me was damaged and Victoria was holding me by the back of my neck like I was some prize kill and she was holding me up for all to see.

"Take even the smallest step closer and I'll crush her throat" she said brushing her finger across the front of my throat a couple times her nail digging a little deeper each time making the line she was scratching redder with each pass. I was getting tired of this. "Just kill her all ready…" I said my face was serious this time. "Forget about me and finish her off already" I ordered as I locked eyes with Edward as he stood in front of the others. I closed my eyes as I felt the nail break the skin on my neck; it was being pulled so slow I couldn't help but cry out a bit.

"They're not going to risk you life, especially him" she whispered in my ear as her nail dug deeper into the wound. I felt the heat radiating from the damaged skin and the warm blood break the skin barrier and start to follow the pattern of my skin and tickle the hairs on my skin. I felt Victoria dip her finger in some of the blood. The smell was starting to make me sick, I hoped that I would be dead before I was sick or that Edward would save me in time.

After a few minutes in a standstill I was moving again, I landed on the broken coffee table, the palm of my hand had a small bloody gash on it. I heard the snarls above me as the others resisted Jasper and their own needs at the fresh blood. Victoria had planned it; she wasn't going to end me like we thought. She was going to have my vampire friends do it. That's when I heard Jacob's snarls from behind them he crashed through the vampires and came to my side. Grabbing his fur in my hand he practically dragged me up the stairs to the second floor. I slammed the door behind me and grabbed the nearest dirty shirt and held it against my palm and I used the sleeve to wipe the already dried blood off my neck.

I couldn't hear anything downstairs; I stood by the door straining my ears to hear something, anything to know what was happening to my friends down there. I moved the shirt from my hand. The blood had stopped but my hand still hurt when I moved it. I knew that I wouldn't need stitches this time. Soon the whole house shuddered. Jacob sat up from where he was laying on the bed and whimpered a bit. Somehow that reminded me of science class and when animals would act funny when something bad would happen. I nearly jumped through the ceiling when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

"Bella, it's Carlisle; are your wounds all right?" he asked sounding more like a doctor than anything. "Their fine, they stopped bleeding" I answered opening the door to the young vampire doctor. He took my hand and I made my way downstairs into the ruins of what was once my living room. Edward was standing there picking up the pieces of the couch with ease before dropping them back on the floor in a pile. I gaped like a fish out of water for a moment at the damage that in a matter of moments had happened. I looked behind me at Carlisle and he was gone leaving me and Edward alone. Soon Jacob came down the stairs wearing a pair of dark sweat pants. I glanced at the clock that was left untouched in the fight, Charlie was going to be home soon and the house we practically destroyed.

Jacob and Edward were on opposite sides of the room picking up what could be salvaged and moving them out of the way. I was frozen in place as Charlie walked in the door and looked at the damage in the living room. "Isabella…Marie…Swan, What in the name of all things sacred happened to my house? And I want the god's honest truth young lady" Charlie asked locking eyes with me. I bit my lip and looked over at Edward who had his back to me.

"All right, well Jacob came over this afternoon and he gave me this really nice necklace and then he kissed me and Edward saw it and punched Jacob in the jaw and they got into a small fight and they broke the couch. Then this vampire named Laurent broke in the back door and was holding me hostage for Victoria another vampire who wants me dead because Edward killed her mate so she wants to return the favor, but Jacob saved me and then Victoria attacked and I got hurt and the Cullens came to my rescue because their vampires and Jacob is a werewolf and there was a big fight and the house got trashed and I've been keeping it all a secret for a year now." I gasped for air at the end. I heard the sound of glass breaking as Jacob Edward both dropped what they were holding.

Charlie looked at me and stood quiet as he thought things over "I said the truth Bella, I don't want some made up story about monsters. If you're not ready to admit the truth then I'm going to have to ground you." He said crossing his arms over his chest. "I think we need to have a talk alone in the kitchen" he added as I followed him, I looked over my shoulder and both Edward and Jacob had the same look on their face.

"I think I just had a heart attack" Edward said loud enough for Jacob and me to hear him. I smiled as I hung back for a moment. "What heart do you have for you to have a heart attack?" Jacob hissed. "What about me I think I had one as well." The werewolf added giving a faint chuckle. I walked into the kitchen as soon I was sure they weren't going to kill each other.

-----------

As soon as Bella went into the kitchen I gave a loud sigh and leaned against the wall. From my position I could hear the entire conversation in the kitchen. I waved Jacob over as far as we both could stand.

"Bella there are holes in our outer walls and the house is nearly destroyed and we don't have enough money to pay for the repairs" Charlie said in a huff as he paced over the broken glass on the floor. I smirked and walked into the kitchen and stood in the doorway. "Char...Err… sheriff Swan, to make up for the damages I have caused I will pay out of my own pocket for the repairs and I would like to offer an invitation for you and Bella to come stay at my place till your house is fully repaired." I said looking at him and seeing the worry on his face disappear.

Bella looked at me with a glare and all I did was smile back at her as her father thought over my offer. "All right…we'll take you up on your offer, but we don't want to impose." He said to me reaching forward and shaking my hand. I could hear Jacob in the other room snarl under his breath. "Just because you have the money you flaunt it around bloodsucker." I smirked and released Charlie's hand. "Then it's settled, you and Bella should pack" I remarked as I watched them slowly walk past me.

I waited downstairs and said my goodbyes to Jacob as he left the house and snarled at me as he passed me before heading outside to his motorcycle. I listened as it roared to life and took off. Taking the stairs to the second floor I entered Bella's room and sat on her bed. For once she was waiting for me.

"Are you insane?" Bella hissed at me as she threw her shirts angrily into her duffle bag. I sat on the bed and looked at her "I could say the same thing, what was that whole thing earlier about telling your father our secret" I hissed back my eyes locking with hers. By the time we got to my place Alice was outside bouncing up and down waiting for the cruiser, she was chattering a mile a minute as we walked in the front door. I heard Bella's gasp as she noticed the house had been redecorated and seemed to have a homier quality to it. I was quite impressed, Alice had outdone herself once again even with the short amount of time.

Alice bounced around Bella telling her that she would be sleeping in her room. It was mostly just for show.

I took Bella by the hand and led her up the stairs. "How did you manage to get all this set up in a matter of minutes? Alice isn't that good" Bella said loud enough for only me to hear. I chuckled a bit "She foresaw this happening" I said waiting for Bella's reaction.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Lamb in the Lion's Den**

As I walked up the stairs with Edward I looked over my shoulder at Carlisle and Esme as they introduced my father to the rest of the Cullens that never frequented our house. Jasper and Emmett both nodded at Charlie from across the room as they watched the television or pretended to at least. Rosalie passed by me on the stairs as she made her way down to greet my father. Edward took my bag and led me to his room where a large king size bed filled most of the room. I felt myself gape at it as Edward dumped my bag on the end and dragged me out of the bedroom, as soon as we reached the top of the stairs looking down on the rest of the Cullens I heard my father's voice.

"When I asked Bella about it she gave me some silly little story about vampires and werewolves, I think she might actually have a career in story telling one day. I mean have you ever heard of such a thing?" he asked Carlisle.

I held my breath until Carlisle began to laugh "That is a pretty funny story… I'm just glad you accepted our offer to stay here till your house is repaired. Esme will show you to the guest room." He said smiling. Edward and I made our way over to the couch. When I sat down I was sandwiched in between Emmett and Edward.

"So did you really punch a werewolf in the mouth?" Emmett asked laughing as he peeled his eyes away from the television screen.

Edward chuckled and put his arm around my shoulder "I taught him a lesson for placing his smelly lips on Bella." He said laughing as well. I rolled my eyes and pushed myself up to get away. I felt Edward grab me and pull me onto his lap and hold me close. Taking my injured hand in his he looked it over very carefully. "It looks fine but I should kiss it to make it feel better." He whispered placing his lips against my wound and kissing it softly. I felt my anger at him melt away as he kept me close on his lap as Alice ran over and took the spot where I was sitting before forcing me to stay on Edward's lap.

Charlie walked into the room and took a seat in the armchair; his hawk eyes were watching the five of us on the couch. I tried to keep my eyes on the television. I couldn't keep my eyes on the screen; my eyes kept drifting over to my father. I could feel ever little twitch under me as Edward tried to keep his movements from being taken the wrong way by my father.

"I thought some of you were supposed to be away at college?" Charlie asked generally as Alice and Rosalie walked into the room. Emmett began to laugh beside me before looking at Charlie "School break, so we decided to come home for a visit. We also missed Bella, so we wanted to visit her as well." He added patting me on the head like I was child.

We all looked up when Carlisle walked into the room and offered to give Charlie a tour of the house; I gave a sigh of relief when Charlie was gone. "Bella, what was it like kissing a werewolf?" Rosalie asked from where she was standing behind the couch.

I spun my head around quickly and pulled out of Edward's arms and backed up so I could look at all of them. "You all know about it?" I asked turning a deep red. Everyone nodded their heads all at the same time. I looked at them for a moment thinking it all over. Looking over at Edward he was smirking. "If you knew already then why did you punch him?" I asked looking at him.

Edward stood up and put his arms around me and held me close in his strong stone grip. "I told you, because he put his dirty mouth on you and I do have some morals and he should as well." He whispered I knew that the others of course heard him. There were no secrets in a house full of vampires.

I tried to pull away from Edward but his arms were holding me in his vice like arms and I couldn't get away from him. I placed my hands against his chest and started to push away but he pulled me closer against his chest and pushed his ice cold lips against mine I could feel my self control slip away from me. My arms were folded in front of my chest. Closing my hands I held onto Edward's shirt and concentrated on my breathing.

"Edward let the girl breathe" Emmett laughed since he was watching us more than the overly expensive television in front of the couch. Edward finally broke our kiss. I couldn't help myself as a small gasp escaped my lips. I realized that everything around me silent. Pulling away from Edward I flushed a deep red and left the room as quick as my feet could take me. Soon I found myself upstairs on the second floor landing unsure of where I should go to hide out from Edward and his stupid vampiric hormones. Turning around to look down the hall, I came face to face with Carlisle and Charlie. "Bella what are you doing up here?" Charlie asked, he probably noticed my blush. I didn't even filter my words before I spoke this time "I came up here to get away from that Ill-mannered, uncivil, impulsive, jerk" I said, both my hands were in fists.

I could hear Emmett and Jasper laughing down in the living room, Charlie probably thought they were laughing at the television and not at what I said about Edward.

Carlisle moved over and laughed a bit "Well, it's getting late and it's almost dinner time…Esme has been wanting guests over for dinner to break in our new dinnerware." Carlisle said breaking the tension.

----------

The atmosphere at dinner was strained; both Emmett and Jasper were smirking still. I scanned the large table and tried to think of some type of dinner conversation. "Charlie… Bella tells me that you fish. I'm more of a hunter." I chuckled at our little in-joke. Charlie nodded his head "Yeah, I head down to La Push and meet up with some friends, it's kind of a tradition and it passes the time. I didn't see any guns in your study, how do you hunt then?" he asked. It was like a tennis match I watched everyone look from Charlie at one end of the table to me at the head of the table.

"We don't hunt with guns; we hunt with cameras and our eyes. I find guns to be a tool for compensating for what one doesn't have." I said calmly.

Dinner continued without any problems, that's when I noticed Edward tense up and his eyes were fixed on the plate in front of him. He read something in Charlie's mind and I could tell right away that it wasn't going to be an easy topic. "Edward, I've been meaning to ask you how you found Bella that night, it was pretty amazing… now I'm not implying anything, but how did you manage to do something, that three deputies failed at and in half the time?" Charlie asked putting his fork down. I glanced over at Bella and saw she was remembering that experience.

Edward was wearing a smirk as he looked up at Charlie; everyone else in the room was listening intently to the conversation. "I was heading home on foot and she just stumbled out of the woods and passed out, I told you that when you questioned me for six hours after I brought her home. As you can see my story hasn't changed…because it's the truth." He said rising from his chair and taking his plate into the kitchen.

Bella rose from her seat and followed suit and disappeared into the kitchen, the rest of us knew everything that was going on in there but we ignored it. "Charlie… I would like it if you didn't question Edward about that, especially in front of Bella, I could see it was bothering her, it was a traumatic night for her." I said coolly, I also didn't like him talking to Edward like he was a criminal for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Sorry, it's just been the only case I haven't been able to solve… I can't even get Bella to talk about the hour before she was kidnapped…but I hear her at night ever since she came back from Phoenix after she fell down those stairs. She's troubled by something that she keeps from me. I want to help her but I can't help if I don't have the whole story." He said sighing. I knew that it was a story he was never going to hear or accept it if he ever did hear it.

----------------

I looked at Bella as she walked into the kitchen and put her plate into the sink. Moving over I walked up behind her and boxed her in against the sink.

"So, I'm ill-mannered, uncivil, and impulsive… that I can take, but I'm not a jerk, or at least I try not to be." I whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry; if you were embarrassed by the kiss then I apologize. I didn't mean to do anything wrong" I said keeping her close to my ice cold chest.

Bella shivered against my chest. Pulling her closer I didn't want to let her go. "I'm never letting anyone hurt you or touch you again. I'm going to turn Victoria and Laurent into two smoldering pile of ash. "I whispered closing my eyes and held her as the others came into the kitchen with plates. Emmett walked into the room with Rosalie; both went quiet when they saw us together standing by the sink.

Picking Bella up in my arms bridal style I carried her out of the kitchen and into the living room, I knew that Charlie was out of sight and that we could disappear upstairs without him seeing us. Moving up the stairs with great speed we reached my bedroom. Placing her softly on the couch I smiled and curled up next to her and put my arms around her. I was never going to let that werewolf win and kiss her ever again, even if it meant following her every moment of the day.

"Rest now Bella you've had a very tiring day and we have school tomorrow." I whispered shifting a bit so Bella was more comfortable. I heard her mumble about not wanting to go to sleep. I knew without even reading her mind that she was afraid that some uninvited guests would show up in the night. "Bella… I would give everything I have to protect you even this so called life of mine. I would rather die a second time as long as it meant you were safe. Wait… before you say anything let me finish." Brushing some stands of hair out of Bella's eyes I looked deep into her eyes. "You're the most important person in the world to me; I would take on every werewolf in La Push and the Volturi all at once to prove how much you mean to me." I whispered placing the softest kiss on her lips. I slowly pulled away from the kiss and saw she had started to drift off into sleep.

Getting up from the couch I grabbed the blanket that had fallen on the floor and tucked it safely around Bella to keep her warm. Lifting her up from the couch I moved across the room and laid her down on the bed so she would have more room in case she rolled over. When I was sure that she was really asleep I left the room silently and went back down to the living room where everyone was lounging around. "Bella fell asleep upstairs on my couch so I'm letting her sleep" I said answering the question Charlie was thinking before even realizing I did it. My mind was elsewhere as I took a seat on the loveseat alone. Being downstairs alone while everyone else sat in pairs except for Charlie depressed me a bit. Bella was like a drug and being away from her for a single second was nearly impossible for me to deal with. As the seconds ticked by the television just became white noise to me and I trained my ears to the sound of Bella's breathing in my room above me.

Pretending that she was right beside me by listening to her was sating my need to be with her while she got the rest she deserved at the time. I had drowned out everything else around me that I missed Charlie's question. Snapping to my senses I looked at him "Pardon?" I said with a truly blank look on my face.

"I asked what your side of the story was; I just can't wrap my head around you and Jacob Black destroying that much of my home. Your both just teenagers." He said looking at me from where he was sitting.

Looking around the room I tried to come up with a story that seemed plausible to explain the damages that had been caused to his house. For once I was at a loss at what lie to use so I shrugged my shoulders "I don't know how to explain it sir… it just happened maybe you have termites and the walls were weak" I said hoping that story would pass. Charlie nodded his head for a moment "I'll have the contractors check in the morning. I know a couple guys from La Push" he said looking at me. I looked into his mind and saw who was going to be working on his house. I grimaced a bit when I saw that Jacob was going to be there. I told Charlie that I would pay for the damages, if that smelly werewolf knew that he would try to drain me of everything I had.

I sat on the loveseat and watched as the others drifted out of the room to go off and do their own things for the night, being that none of us slept we had to hold up the appearance of being human to hide the truth from Charlie. By midnight Charlie finally bid me goodnight and went off to the guest room on the second floor and I was left alone in the living room with my own thoughts. The house was pretty much silent, the television was turned down low so to a human it was barely audible but I could hear it clearly, infomercials and cheaply made horror movies were the only thing that seemed to be on. I could hear Bella up in my room talking in her sleep I knew right away that she was having a nightmare about her kidnapping, she had been getting over it recently but when Charlie brought it up after dinner it must have awoken something in her sub-conscious mind to make her dream of it once again.

-----------

I was having another nightmare I could tell right away, but for some reason I didn't want to wake up from my nightmare at all. I was running in the dark woods, they looked like the woods behind Edward's house by the river. All around me I could hear Laurent's voice calling to me. As I ran through the woods I wasn't sure where I was going but I felt like I was running in circles. That's when a hand grabbed me around the throat. I tried to scream and that's when I realized I was sitting up in bed alone. Looking around the bedroom I reached up and pinched my cheek and cried out a bit when I was sure I was awake. My hand went up to my neck and I traced the healing cut on my neck. Climbing off the king sized bed I crept downstairs as quietly as possible till I saw the glow of the television coming from the living room. Making my way into the large living room I saw Edward looking up at me smirking, his gaze made me want to melt right there.

"Still having nightmares?" he asked calmly as he watched me sit down next to him. I nodded my head, I knew that if he heard anything I said in my sleep then everyone else did as well. Edward stood up and took my hand in his as he continued to smirk. "Come on, I want to show you something outside but first put this blanket around you so you stay warm he said wrapping a blanket over my shoulders like a robe. Pulling me outside like I was a feather in a breeze we were soon standing in the back yard. Before my eyes had a chance to adjust to the darkness I was on Edward's back and we were moving.

When I opened my eyes we were on the roof of the house. I gasped when I saw what Edward wanted to show me, the slice of river and the entire forest was glowing in a pale silver light of the full moon above us. Pulling the blanket around my shoulders tighter when a breeze moved by us I watched the river shimmer under the silver light. "Edward…it's so beautiful up here" I whispered trying to forget the last time I was standing on this roof. I closed my eyes for a moment; I started to remember when Laurent had me up here. I stiffened at the memory, I could feel Laurent's around my waist. I jumped when Edward pulled me close. Looking into Edward's eyes I felt safer.

"I can't take away the memories of what happened to you in the past but I can try" he whispered leaning in and kissing me. I thought I was ready for his kiss but I wasn't my fear melted away along with my strength. I knew I loved Edward, not because he was a vampire or because he looked like a god it was because he loved me as much or even more than I loved him. When the kiss finally ended I realized just how tightly I was holding his shirt in my fists. I didn't want to let him go, if this had just been a dream then the moment I let him go I would wake up alone probably. For once I wanted to be selfish "I'm not letting go, if I do that than your going to disappear like all my other dreams" I whispered standing on my toes to kiss him again. Pulling away for air I close my eyes as he picked me up again and brought me inside to the loveseat we had left.

We sat watching a movie for a few hours, for the first time in what seemed like forever we were acting like two normal teenagers that were watching a cheesy movie and snuggling together. I smiled every time I looked over at Edward as he tried to watch the movie. Moving closer I put my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. All my worries about Victoria and Laurent seemed distant; as long as I had Edward then I really didn't have anything to fear, other than him and Jacob destroying my home again with the fights. I soon began to fall asleep again and I could hear Edward humming his song in my ear. I mumbled something that I couldn't even recognize as real words as I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**((I want to thank everyone for reading this story and look for a sequel that will have a lot more action, hormone fueled arguments, humor, and romance. The title of the sequel is called 'Eternally Yours'. Look for the first chapter soon. Hugs and Love BBB~ Ps. Thanks for the reviews and for your much needed help Kyla Mizuki))**


End file.
